Category: Retention

Unemployment rates have continued to go down and while this is generally a good sign, it creates more challenges than opportunities for employers. The hiring climate has changed so much that over two-thirds (68%) of the employers we surveyed for the 2019 SCALE said they changed their hiring process to be more competitive.

AppleOne Employment Services released its annual hiring and salary guide, the SCALE, today. This year, 31% of employers told AppleOne that unfilled positions cost them more than $500 per day. On top of that, employers find that top candidates are off the market within 10 days. This puts tremendous pressure on employers to speed up their hiring processes, and now more than ever, speed wins the hiring game.

Candidate scarcity is becoming an increasingly common challenge due to record unemployment lows. In addition to making changes in how they hire, many smart Hiring Managers are realizing the value of transferable skills – and that veterans, an often-overlooked group when it comes to stellar employees, have them in spades. In addition to possessing great technical skills, veterans also have many sought-after competencies that we look for in job candidates. Thanks to their prior military training and career, they have polished their skills in leadership, teamwork, critical thinking and problem-solving to a fine shine – not to mention their training on how to work under pressure was a bit more rigorous than many of their civilian counterparts. And that’s just a few of their many marketable strengths. Here are a few more:

It may still feel like summer in some places, but fall has officially begun – and seasonal hiring has started to heat up. Projections of a livelier shopping season and a tightening labor market could make for a challenging seasonal hiring experience for unprepared employers.

You’ve done all the right things: wrote a comprehensive job description, reviewed countless resumes, met and interviewed several hopefuls. Now your hard work has paid off and you are down to two (or three) top candidate picks. When faced with several viable candidates, how do you decide? Here are some desirable employee traits you can use to determine who would not just be a good hire, but a great addition to your team:

While it’s most employers’ go-to measuring stick, past performance is not a guarantee for future success. Combined with today’s low unemployment rate, many hiring managers are realizing that focusing on experience and even education often leaves them with slim and costly pickings. To address this, many have explored evaluating for potential as a hiring tactic. Here are five reasons why hiring for potential and not experience is an increasingly smart strategy:

With unemployment down and candidate scarcity increasingly becoming a real challenge, employers have identified hiring as a top workforce priority they need to solve for growth. One key aspect of hiring is salary negotiation. While successful salary negotiation has the immediate benefit of helping you secure the applicant you wish to hire long-term, it can also impact employee engagement and even retention. Here’s how you can get your money’s worth while making a worthwhile offer to prospective hires:

With employee retention and engagement being very real challenges to many employers, the last thing a smart manager wants to do is to deny vacation requests. In addition to employees being entitled to the time off, research also shows that vacations or ‘down time’ are vital to keeping employees satisfied with their jobs, engaged; and not getting burnt out. Here are some tips for how to coolly manage your team’s vacation schedule even as the temperatures continue to rise:

As we remember our fallen heroes this Memorial Day, we would also like to shine the light on their spouses and comrades whose hearts were and are with them on the battlefield. Our military personnel and their families make great sacrifices for our country and AppleOne is committed to doing everything we can to support them. Our partnership with the Military Spouses Employment Program (MSEP) ensures that military spouses can find high-quality jobs that allow them to reach their full career potential.